1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronically performed steps of sales and other transactions in which a receipt is issued and, more specifically, to the issuance of electronic transaction receipts having links to related information useful to the holder of the receipt.
2. Description of the Related Art
Receipts are issued to participants in transactions to provide evidence that the transaction has been completed. Merchants, banks and others have long issued paper receipts to customers. The advent of electronic transactions has led to the issuance of receipts in electronic or computer-readable format. For example, in electronic commerce (“e-commerce”) transactions conducted via the global super-network referred to as the Internet, receipts are typically issued in the form of an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message to the buyer.
In a typical consumer e-commerce transaction, the buyer uses a personal computer or similar (client) device to communicate with a remote (server) computer operated by or on behalf of a merchant or seller. The hypermedia user interface environment of that portion of the Internet known as the World Wide Web or simply “Web” facilitates consumer e-commerce shopping because it allows sellers to display images of the products, attractive advertisements, and other graphics on Web pages. Web pages that allow a user to send information to the server are generally referred to as forms. In accordance with Web conventions, forms associated with products for sale typically include, in addition to some combination of text and graphics intended to induce a user into purchasing an item, hyperlinks and interactive graphical structures such as buttons and checkboxes. A buyer can indicate the items he is interested in purchasing by selecting or activating corresponding hyperlinks or graphical structures using a mouse or similar input device on his computer. (Activating a hyperlink or graphical structure in this manner is commonly referred to as “clicking on” it.) In response, the server presents the buyer with a form requesting payment information, such as credit card information. In response to submitting that form, the server may present the buyer with a form confirming the transaction. In addition, the server may cause an e-mail message to be transmitted to an e-mail account designated by the buyer. The e-mail message can serve as a receipt if it includes information identifying the items purchased and the price paid. It may also include information describing shipping terms, such as when the seller expects to ship the items to the buyer.
Although e-mail message receipts are primarily plain text that sets forth the essential information identifying and confirming the sales transaction, they may also include graphics and hyperlinks. For example, e-commerce retailers have been known to include product advertisements in e-mail receipts. Such a product advertisement can include a hyperlink associated with an image depicting the product. In response to clicking on the image, the user is presented with an opportunity to purchase the product.
Another type of hyperlink that e-commerce retailers have been known to include in e-mail receipts relates to shipping. In response to clicking on such a hyperlink, the user is presented with an opportunity to track the status of his order. The tracking function may be done in association with the retailer's Web site or, alternatively, an independent shipper's Web site such as UPS or FEDEX.
It would be desirable to provide electronic transaction receipts that more fully exploit the opportunity for inducing additional sales. It would further be desirable to provide electronic transaction receipts that have hyperlinks directed to novel functionality. It would still further be desirable to provide a system that stores electronic transaction receipts and gathers information from stored receipts. The present invention addresses these problems and deficiencies and others in the manner described below.